Stupid Merlin
by Chikidee
Summary: "Arthur stared down at the form of his unconscious manservant. Stupid Merlin, he thought"


_Stupid Merlin_

Arthur stared down at the form of his unconscious manservant. _Stupid Merlin, _thought Arthur again. They were out with a few of his Knights just having a nice, relaxing hunting trip. He thought a little fun would reward his men for such hard work they had performed during their training these past few weeks. He should have known that it wasn't going to go according to plan.

_Just a simple hunting trip. Stupid Merlin._

Arthur stroked his fingers through Merlin's hair, and then down his lover's pale face. Arthur sighed. _Stupid magical Merlin._

They had been attacked by passing raiders who had seen the royal colours and had foolishly advanced thinking Arthur and his men held greater riches than their freshly killed rabbits. Unfortunately, the raiders did have surprise as their advantage and had manage to catch the men off guard.

He had pushed Merlin behind him, telling him to take cover and to let him and his Knights handle the situation. _Stupid Merlin, never was good at listening to anything I said._

While Arthur had been preoccupied with this rather large and extremely ugly opponent, another had been perched in a tree, aiming his crossbow at the oblivious Prince. Merlin had seen, but it was too late. As the arrow launched itself from the enemy's device, Merlin sprang forth towards Arthur. As he tackled his lover to the ground he let loose a massive fireball straight towards his foe in the trees, hitting him dead square in the chest. If he had been a bit faster getting to Arthur, however, he probably would have avoided the enemy arrow embedding itself into his shoulder.

With the help of Sir Leon Arthur had managed to remove the arrow and bandage the wound. It wasn't serious and he was sure they were able to avoid infection, but Merlin had lost a bit of blood and was now resting before they made their way back to the castle.

Arthur was unsure of what to do next. There was no way his Knights had missed Merlin's little fiery display. He knew there was no doubt in their minds that Merlin was a sorcerer. Arthur had known about Merlin's magic for a while now, and he had grown to learn that it was not as dangerous as his father made it out to be. He just hoped he could he convince his Knights without losing their trust and loyalty.

Well one thing's for sure, he definitely couldn't hide in this tent all day. He just hoped his Knights hadn't run off to his father before he could explain everything.

Arthur took one last look at his stupid sleeping sorcerer, the man who had saved his life more times than he could count, and headed out through the flap to face his Knights.

Arthur was surprised, and glad, to see his Knights leisurely sitting around the fire, happily recalling their heroic battles against each of their recent opponents. They stopped and looked when they saw their Prince emerge, respectfully waiting for their next orders.

Arthur cleared his throat. "You all fought bravely today, men. I am extremely proud to call you Knights of Camelot. You showed great courage, and we were victorious with very few injuries to our party."

The men all nodded and smiled in thanks, but stayed quiet knowing they were not done being addressed.

"Uh, about Merlin... I..." Arthur stopped as he saw sir Leon stand up.

"Sire, if I may be so bold?" asked Sir Leon. Arthur narrowed his eyes, and nodded for his Knight to continue speaking.

"Sire, we thank you for your praise. We will serve you until the day we die." Leon lowered his eyes and shuffled his feet, unsure of how to continue. "All of us," he gestured behind him to the rest of the men, "are fond of Merlin, and we know you care a great deal for the boy."

Arthur froze. Had he been too obvious with his affections towards Merlin? Does the entire castle know of his feelings as well? He opened his mouth to speak, but sir Leon continued.

"We are ever grateful that he saved your life, Sire. But we are quite disappointed that we were unable to see the heroic act take place." Sir Leon paused and looked towards his Prince, using his eyes to convey what could not be said out loud.

"So," started Arthur cautiously, "none of you saw what Merlin did?"

"No Sire. I unfortunately was preoccupied with this rather persistent raider. Sir Robin and Sir Owain were securing the horses from two other bandits, and the others were perusing the retreating enemies. I'm sorry Sire, none of us saw anything."

Arthur looked as all his Knight's head's bobbed in agreement. His could feel his heart swell, thumping against his chest. Yes they were most likely doing it to stay loyal to the Prince, but he knew deep down a part of it was because they were also genuinely fond of his idiotic manservant.

Only Merlin could capture the hearts of his men. _And probably half the castle as well,_ now that he thought about it. It was just the way Merlin was. Arthur let the smallest of smiles slip past his lips before he replaced it with his best royal face.

Arthur cleared his throat, overwhelmed with loyalty. "Well," he said, "that is a shame. He undoubtedly saved my life. It is unfortunate that you weren't able to witness such a heroic act."

The Knight heads nodded in agreement.

Arthur's face softened, whispering a quiet "and thank you."

Sir Leon smiled and nodded, as he walked back to join the other Knights by the fire. Arthur forced his body out of its shocked state, and turned to walk back into the tent. He definitely owed his Knights a huge feast and celebration when they got back to Camelot.

Arthur sat down beside Merlin, taking his lover's limp hand in his own. He did appreciate Merlin's noble rescue, but he's definitely going to have to go over the non-revealing-magic-in-front-of-everyone rules again when his foolish manservant woke up. Arthur sighed and stroked Merlin's face.

_Stupid Merlin._


End file.
